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Libre and the non-diabetic reading < 4

D

DD99

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Hi, feel a bit weird asking this but although my partner is diabetic, they don't really understand what's happening either so thought I'd seek a bit of advice here.

Partner pays for Libre and they asked if I would like to try one, always being interested in tech I of course said yes. It's a great device, made a huge difference to my partner who being dyspraxic found finger tests really fiddly to do so didn't do them as often as they should. They are really aware of what they eat now, can't rate it high enough to be honest.

Anyway.... so I started tracking and was surprised to see that I dip below 4 a few times a day - and every morning between 5-6am it dips low to around 3.6 then recovers - I've been waking up in a sweat for many months at that time and often wake with a headache and a little nauseous. By 8am when I get up it's around 4.7. The Libre shows my average as 5.7 but that's just 5 days of reporting.

It also dips just below 4 around 11pm, I don't usually snack of an evening. If I exercise, it also dips below 4 (talking a treadmill 15 min walk at 5km/hr, no marathons here!). Just prior to mealtimes I'm around 4.5 and after a meal it peaks to 9/10, which seems logical. We tested with a fingerprick (downward slope) and that correlated with the Libre reading so I'm fairly confident it's reporting correctly. I very rarely eat biscuits/cakes/chocolate etc nor do I drink alcohol and I'm eating healthier than I have for years - between meal snacks are usually nuts rather than sweet stuff.

Google hasn't helped me with this one, and I don't have any other reference point to ask - few non-diabetics use it

I'm 55, I'd say about a stone or so overweight (BMI 28) and a little worried I may be pre-diabetic so I'd really appreciate feedback on your pre-diabetic experiences if you have the time. Thank you and take care of yourselves x
 
If you are not on any blood glucose lowering medication there is nothing wrong with dropping to the mid to high 3's - I believe many non-diabetics do, low blood sugar is NOT a sign of diabetes.

If you are getting night sweats it'll be worth going to your doctors about it and getting them to investigate, my dad had them for a while, he is not diabetic nor hypoglycaemic, not sure what happened with it (I don't live there), but your doctors should be the first call there.

The 9/10 reading may be a little higher than it should be, BUT it depends what you'd previously eaten, when you'd previously eaten and even blood glucose meters only have to be within 15% accuracy to be considered accurate so it could've been lower anyway. Ask your doctor for an HbA1C test if you are concerned its diabetes.

When you talk to your docs, treat the worry about diabetes and the night sweating followed by nausea as two separate subjects, otherwise one may get written off

Oh and welcome to the forums.
 
Below is T2 of course

I’m not on drugs now and I’ve seen readings as low as 2.7, but reasonably regularly, especially after a day at work when I’ve only eaten at lunch or after some cardio on my exercise bike I have seen readings mid 3s

this has happened I add since I have dropped so much weight, it didn’t happen before. I feel fine, I remember the sweats and confusion previously but that was when I actually was in the 5s... bit strange

it’s a bit counter intuitive in a way I think. Drugs pulling into those levels is bad, but when not on drugs it’s not necessarily an issue. Have to be honest I don’t fully get it

but yes, agreed doctor for things you don’t think is right. It’s what they are there for
 
It is perfectly normal for someone on non blood sugar lowering drugs to have a reading under 4.
It is also perfectly normal for Libre to under read, especially when you apply pressure to the sensor such as when you lie on it at night.
One calibration reading won’t tell you if it over reads when high (I find anything over 8 on the Libre is unreliable so the 9/10 may not be as high as reported) or under reads when low.
But, as a non doctor, I would say you have nothing to worry about from a diabetes perspective.
 

I would buy another libre and start tracking food and see what you find. I was similar to you, hypos in the early morning, waking up with headaches and often in a sweat and spiking after food. I knew about some of the spikes from finger pricks but the CGM was a revelation. I'm better with chocolate than with lentils!

I would also go to your GP and get everything checked out but in the meantime I'd take the advice on here for a healthy lifetstyle, diabetic or not. Giving up carbs and sugar, although it sounds as though you are already doing most of this. I was spiking at 9/10 about 5yrs before I was diagnosed with insulin resistance and only then it was because I went privately. My NHS GP ignored any and all of my warning signs and wanted to wait until my HbA1C was in the range. Thankfully my private endo is not so constrained. His advice was to cut the carbs and my blood pressure has dropped (regularly was 140/120), I've lost 8kg and my BMI was 22.3 and is now 19.8. Given you said you have some weight to lose you may notice a difference if you try to low carb route. My endo said no: potatoes (of any kind), pasta, bread (of any kind), cakes, biscuits, sugar, bananas, mangoes, watermelon (strange but hey), grapes, dates and I'm sure a few more but that was all. Can eat anything else, including rice. But having used the CGM I spike with rice, lentils etc. Also, worth knowing how long you spike for...a brief 5 min peak of 9/ 10 will be far less damaging that sitting there for 3 hrs. I ten to have quick spikes with sugar but don't hit my peak until 2 or 3 hrs with carbs such as bread.

Really we're all so different but keeping a decent food diary for the 2 weeks of the CGM and lowering the carbs should help, with a trip to the GP just to get proper medical advice, which obviously my waffle above is not

D
 
Sounds totally normal to me. 8/9 could be high if you didn’t eat a carb heavy meal but non diabetics do see those numbers briefly when they do.

I don’t have diabetes either and have seen my glucose at 3.6/3.7 before meals sometimes. It’s normal.
 
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